The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-09-22
Tho Presidents Speech.

Tho Presidents Speech. 3 ?
During the Philadelphia Centennial
President Cleveland was introduced to
the audience and spoke for about ten
minutes.
S At .11:55 he commenced an address,
which was received with thunderoas ap::
plause. His enunciation was clear and
perfect, and his voice rang out audibly to
the thousands of ears:
E / deem it very great honor and pleas
ure to participate in these impressive ex'
ercises. Every American citizen should,
on this centennial day, rejoice in his
citizenship. He will not find the cause
of his rejoicing in the antiquity of his
country, for among the nations OF this
earth his stands with the youngest. He
will not find it in the glitter and pomp
that bedeck the monarch and dazzle the
abject and servile subjects, for in his
country the people themselves are rulers.
He will not find it in the story of bloody
foreign conquest, for his government has
been content to care for its own domain
and people. He should rejoice, because
the work of framing our constitution was
completed one hundred years ago to-day,
and also because when completed it
established free government. He should
rejoice, because this constitution and
government have survived 80 long, and
also because they have survived with 80
many blessings and have demonstrated
80 fully the strength and value of popu'
lar rule. He should rejoice in the won
drous growth and achievements OF the
past hundred years, and also in the glo.
rious promise of the constitution through
centuries to come.
We shall fail to be duly thankful for
all that was done for US one hundred
years ago, unless we realize the difficult
ties of the work then in hand and the
dangers avoided in the task of forming g
more perfect union between the dijoint-
ed and inharmonious states, with inter.
ests and opinions radically diverse and
stubbornly maintained. The perplexities
of the invention which undertook the
labor of preparing our constitution are
apparent in these earnest words OF one
Of the most illustrious of its members !:
aThe small progress we havemad after
four or FIVE weeks of close attendance
and continued reasoning with each other; !;
our different sentiments on almost every
question several Of the last producing
as many noes as yeas-is, methinks, mel.
ancholy proof of the imperfection OF
human understanding. We indeed seem
to feel our own want of political wisdom,
since We have been running about IN
search of it. We have gone back to
ancient history for models of govern.
ment, and examined the different forms
of those republics which having been
formed with seeds of their own dlssoiu-
ton now no longer exist. In this sltua'
ton of this assembly, cropping IS it were
in the dark to find political truth, and
scarcely able TO distinguish it when pre-.
sented to US, how mas it happened, Sir,
that we have not heretofore once thought
Of hulnbly applying to the Father OF
Light, to illuminate our understanding Z"
X And this wise man, proposing to his
| fellows that the aid and blessing OF God
should be invoked In their, extremity
declared: :,
"I have lived, sir, long time, and
the longer I live the more convincing
proofs I see of the truth that God governs
ia the affairs of men. And if q sparrow
cannot fall to the ground without his
notice, is.it probable that an empire can
rise without his aid? We have been
assured, sir, in the sacred writings that,
except the Lord. build the house, they
labor in vain that build it, l firmly
believe this, and also believe that with.
ont his concurring aid we shall succeed
| in this political building no better than
| the builders. of Babel. We shall be di-
yided by our little partial, local interests ;
our projects will be confounded, and We
Yourselves shall become reproach and
by.word down to future ages; and, what
| is worse, mankind may hereafter from
this unfortunate instance, despair OF
establishing governments by human WIS.,
dom and leave it to chance, war and con-
quest"
In the face of sll encouragement, ths
fathers Of the republic labored on for
four long weary months in alternate hope
and fear. but always with a rugged re.
|.solve, never faltering in the sturdy en-
deavor ssnctiied by the prophetic sense
of the value to posterity of their success,
and. always with unfinching faith in the
principles which make the foundation OF
the government by the people.
At last their task was done. It is re-
lated that upon the back of the chair
occupied by Washington, as president OF
the convention, the sun vas painted, and
that as the delegates we're signing the
completed constitution one of them said
"I have often and often, in the course OF
the session, and in the solicitude of my
hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at
that behind the president without being
able to tell whether it was rising or set.
ting. but now at length know that it
| ia q rising and not a setting SUM-"
We stand to-day on the spot where
this rising sun emerged from the political
night and darkness, and in its own bright
meridian light ne mark its glorious way.
Clouds have sometimes obscured its rays,
| and dreadful storms have made us tear,
but God has held it in its course, and
through its life.giving warmth has per.
formed His latest miracle in the creation
| of this wondrous land and people.
As We look down the past century to
the origin of our constitution; as we
contemplate its trials and its triumphs
as We realize how completely the prin.
ciples upon which it is based have met
avery national peril and every national
need, how devoutIy should we. confess,
with Franklin, "God governs in the
affairs of men !" and how solemn should
be the reflection, that to our hands is
committed this ark of the peoples
covenant, and that ours is the duty to
shield it from impious hands. We re-
ceive it sealed with the tests Of q century.